have you ever seen a Jackalope?

There's much to post about- many things have been happening in the past week and I haven't done a very good job at keeping you updated.

My birthday was wonderful- Nate did a fantastic job of making it special with breakfast in bed, lunch, and a Japanese dinner with a small group of close friends.

The day after my birthday, I was meeting Gina for coffee and I recieved a phone call from LPS lettimg me know that they had hired me as a substitute teacher. This was very good news- meaning that as soon as I got online, I would be able to sign up and start recieveing subbing jobs. Gina told me that they'd prayed for me at Bible study the night before- so this was no suprise to her. :)

I left for Norfolk Friday morning to visit my mom and dad for the weekend. I was able to go to Howie's farewell get-together- he was the pastor at my parents' church for about 8 years. Fantastic guy. He and his family will be missed BIG TIME. I was able to see and catch up with a lot of friends over the course of Friday and Saturday- which was great because I don't get home often. Time with my parents was wonderful- and I was able to see my grandparents quite a bit as well. It was SO GOOD to see them. Here's me and dad.

Monday I had my first subbing job in a 5th grade classroom that I'd taught in during my college teaching practicums. I spent the second half of the day there and had a very successful start to my career as a sub. Today, I'm at another school in a 2nd grade classroom- teaching for a friend of mine, Molly. It's funny how things just seem to fall into place.

I know many of you have been praying and waiting with me to see how this teaching thing will unfold. I appreciate your prayers and encouraging phone calls more than you can imagine. It's been an interesting journey- learning to trust that the Lord will allow things to fall the way He knows is best. It'll be challenging to walk into a different classroom every day, working for different teachers, with different rules, and learning new students' names. I look forward to the day when I am handed the key to my very own classroom where I decide the rules and know my students by name. However, I see this time now as a season of great growth and take each new opportunity with a bit of excitement.

Thank you again for prayers and support. I would be much more fragile without all of you.